Always and Never
by The Afterman
Summary: Harry Potter, the predicted savior of mankind, is left broken after his second encounter with Voldemort. The war has been lost and darkness is ruling and Hermione questions the actions of an old man, leading her to take drastic action to change the past. However, little does she know that time is fickle and to gain something, you must give something in return... Sirius/OC Mature


_Welcome to Always and Never! The idea for this story came to me so suddenly and I decided to try and get it down on paper. I really hope you enjoy story and I apologize in advance for the small size of this chapter! There was so much more that I wanted to include, but I didn't want to rush it all at once!_

_Also, I do not own Harry Potter or any of its wonderful characters, they belong to J.K Rowling!_

_Without further ado, please enjoy!_

_X-x-X_

Prologue:

The world was dark, bitter and twisted. It was a ruin, a hell in its own rights, all due to one man who thought himself a god.

Voldemort had appeared in force only two months ago and already the majority of Europe, Asia and America had bowed before his supremacy. Day by day his number of Death Eaters rose, from what had once been a small, select, elite force, to an army of striking size and power, squashing any hope to those who still quietly protested against his rule, of a successful uprising.

When Voldemort had first appeared in the open, when he had first led his attack against Hogwarts, many had risen against him to protect the historic school, but Voldemort's power and the force of his Death Eaters had driven courage from many of the defenders. Within a week, the school or at least what was left of it had been conquered.

Not many survived the battle and those who remained were tortured and eventually killed; Voldemort took no prisoners. Most had seen the moment when the wards broke and had taken that moment to escape the ruin, before they were killed. In those last moments, it had been every man for himself, leading to even more chaos and bloodshed.

To Hermione Jean Granger, the world was decaying. All the filth and evil which had once hidden from the good and light were now erupting in masses, leaving death, destruction and despair in its wake. Even those she had once considered friends had turned on one another in those last moments at Hogwarts some had even tried to kill each other, in hope of gaining favour with the dark side. It had been a futile effort.

Hermione stared at her reflection in the cracked, grubby mirror. A distorted image of a gaunt young woman, with wide mahogany eyes filled with sorrow and rimmed by deep purple bruises, gazed back impassively, her cheeks shrunken in, giving her once beautiful face, the look of a skull. Her flesh was pasty, lacking any healthy colour, giving her a ghostly appearance.

_You're dying; Hermione _was the only thought that flickered across her mind as she tied her greasy, unwashed hair into a bun to keep the tangled strands from falling in her eyes.

She sighed miserably as the sound of raised voices filled the stale air, breaking the uneasy silence.

As Hermione entered the small living room of the four room apartment, she glanced between the two red faced, bickering men. Harry and Ron had been at one another's throat constantly for the past fortnight. Cramped living conditions, lack of nutritious food and the stress of the spread of the dark forces were all partially to blame for the raised tensions and frequent arguments, but the main contributor to these disagreements had to be the heavily pregnant ginger haired girl, who was currently sat on the rather sad looking stained red sofa.

Ginny Weasley had joined the 'Golden Trio' exactly two weeks prior to this current date, arriving in a torrential thunderstorm and bringing a rather unexpected surprise with her – Ginny was seven or so months pregnant.

The arguments had begun at first over the appearance of Ginny; Harry had been delighted, if not a little disgruntled and surprised at the current condition of the auburn haired girl, whereas Ron had been furious. Even if Ginny had not been carrying an unborn child along with her, she would still have been a hindrance to the original trio, as she was still underage, so was therefore still track-able if she used magic. Not only that, but food was scarce enough in supply with three mouths to feed, never mind four, especially when the additional mouth had to be kept well-nourished due to her current condition.

Ron had immediately requested that Ginny should go back to the safe house were the rest of the surviving Weasley's were hiding. Ginny and Harry had protested – Ginny had left in the first place due to a disagreement with Mrs Weasley; her mother had wanted to ship her of to Australia, which was still not under the grasp of Voldemort, as this would be a safer option for Ginny and her unborn child. Ginny, meanwhile, had told her mother that she had every intention of finding Harry and raising the child with him, although even Ginny admitted that the likelihood of Harry being the biological father was slim. Therefore, the two women had argued, resulting in Ginny leaving to find Harry.

Ron was still coming to terms with the fact that his younger sister was or at least, had been, sexually active and to put the cherry on the cake, she was stumped at who the father could be, leaving it obvious that she had had many partners.

Hermione, on the other hand, was shocked at how selfish the usually fierce and generous girl had become. While the boys may be arguing over the state of Ginny and her residency at their apartment, Hermione looked at the wider spectrum and realised that Ginny had stopped any and all progress and hope towards ending this infernal war. She had side-tracked the usual level-headed Harry, with thoughts of fatherhood and marriage, whilst driving a wedge between him and Ron, which had stopped all progress to locating other survivors who could aid in the uprising. Ginny had, essentially, hammered the last nail in the coffin.

Should Hermione voice her opinion, she would be browbeaten by both of her best friends. Harry would hear no wrong said about Ginny, no matter how accurate the words, and Ron was a hypocrite, if ever there was one. Therefore, Hermione was much a bystander and her bitterness grew as she saw all their hopes and all of her work crashed down before her eyes. Defeat was hard to stomach, especially when it was at the hands of one ginger girl who Hermione had once thought a friend. Defeat would have been much easier to admit to, had it been served by Voldemort himself or even a tough, evil witch like Bellatrix.

Hermione viewed Ginny with distaste, loathing every inch of the rosy girl, who was the only occupant of this apartment who was still filled with life, with clear eyes which had never experienced the searing pain of torture or the cold hands of guilt as one of your own died due to your impertinence. Hermione was, principally, jealous of the pregnant woman before her.

"Ginny has to go!" Ron thundered, his hands balled into tight fits and his eyes gleamed with his violent want to connect one of them with Harry's face. "It's not safe here for her…or for the baby!"

"If Ginny goes then I go" Harry answered, in a surprisingly calm voice, despite the angry colour which stained his cheeks and the rage which filled his emerald coloured eyes.

Hermione shook her head sadly, her own hands slowly curling into fists. She felt a pang of sorrow as she realised that Dumbledore had been wrong. How could the predicted saviour of all of mankind throw away all hope of a rebellion against the spreading darkness, all for a stupid, unfaithful girl?

Dumbledore had sworn that Harry was the 'one', the person who would vanquish the Dark Lord and prevent the rise of darkness. Harry had faced Voldemort twice, both times he had risen again, but the final time had left him weak and empty, as though a part of him had been lost when the green curse had enveloped him in its deathly grip.

As the trio had run to make their escape from the wreck of a castle, which had been their home for six trying years, Harry had uttered broken sentences which made little sense at the time:

'_He gave me a choice… I should have boarded the train… I couldn't do it…he was wrong…he was always wrong…'_

Later, Hermione came to the realisation that perhaps Harry was not the saviour and that Dumbledore had, ultimately, been wrong. Without guidance, Harry had been unable to defeat Voldemort, resulting in the ruin of the world that they had once known and loved. However, on the other hand, Hermione was perplexed that Dumbledore could make such a drastic mistake; it was so unlike the overly cautious old man. Dumbledore was the man who had timed his own untimely death, the man who had won the Elder Wand and who had confirmed the existence of the three Deathly Hallows. Had his wits finally betrayed him when he placed the hope and existence of all that was good, on the slim shoulders of Harry Potter? Hermione did not want to believe this, but all the evidence pointed to the mistake of an old, done man, which saddened Hermione even more.

She swallowed, determined that there was one last thing that she had to do. Perhaps Harry and Ron were ready to admit defeat, but Hermione had some hope and a budding idea. Although it felt wrong to pursue this task alone when for the last six years, the three of them had been inseparable; facing each and every danger together, Hermione understood that she could no longer rely on her friends. This war had broken their spirits, even if at first, she had been adamant to ignore this factor. Conclusively, this task fell to her to bear and her alone.

The bushy haired woman walked towards the chipped, off-white door, which was the only exit to the apartment (apart from the windows). As she opened the door, she glanced over her shoulder, at where the two men faced each other silently, absorbing the enormity of Harry's words and between them, sat on the old red sofa; Ginny's eyes sparkled with unconcealed love as she gazed wistfully up at Harry.

As Hermione walked out of the apartment, out of their lives, only the ginger haired girl noticed and with a look of fleeting relief, she watched as the door closed, before she turned her eyes back to where her black haired protector stood.


End file.
